Bretton Woods' Smoke-Filled Rooms

I have recently devoted considerable space on this blog to corruption in India and to India’s way of dealing with it once it came to light. We’ve seen that the Indian government had to be dragged kicking and screaming into cleaning up its act, largely by the efforts of one, Anna Hazare, who had begun a protest fast till death.

The Indian media jumped on it and splashed it all over the country, and the entire population – particularly its youth – mobilized to force the government to confront various issues. [Kudos to the Indian university professors who must have exerted considerable (positive) influence over their legions of ‘skulls-full-of-mush’ scholars.]

May I be so bold as to suggest that the corruption that has come to light in India so far – bribery, money laundering, dipping into the public trough, influence peddling; trial fixing, cover-up, etc. – is peanuts when compared to what’s going on in the United States today? Bluntly put, there is a cadre of crafty individuals who are working on stealing no less than an entire nation - lock, stock, and barrel. (Let’s just call a spade a spade.)

For a long time now, we’ve had a feeling that something is terribly wrong. It first showed up in policies that seemed utterly insane. It snowballed into the dubious results we are seeing today. These were entirely predictable but are somehow being summarily ignored. People who were beginning to smell a rat were systematically neutered, ridiculed and marginalized.

The things we presently argue about on blogs and on talk shows – the usual Democrat/Republican divide – are now utterly beside the point. This is pure diversion and blame-shifting fun. Even the Islamic vs. infidel argument, as well as the Socialism/Democracy debates we endlessly engage in, are hardly worth mentioning anymore. What is truly important is routinely hidden or swept into inaccessible places - like what’s happening as we speak up at Bretton Woods.

None of the usual left-wing rabble showed up to protest – only a handful to ‘tea party’ people. They were barred from the (closed door) proceedings.

What is going on in New Hampshire is a long way from having to hand a judge a few thousand rupees to get a favorable ruling in a traffic dispute. Though annoying to the individual parties involved, the outcome would hardly determine the fate of a nation.

We often wonder how it is possible to shred our Constitution in plain sight; how we can ignore our border security; how we can nullify contracts with the stroke of the executive’s pen; how we can allow our dollar to slip into oblivion; how we can elect a man to the highest office in the land about whom next to nothing is known; how we can tolerate a Congress that is predominantly ineffective except when it comes to rubberstamping outrage after outrage; how – with all that is happening around us – our media remains silent.

I’m not saying that the kinds of solutions to come out of Bretton Woods palaver are necessarily bad. It may well be the best thing since sliced bread. What is suspect, however, is that the public has been excluded. We are being shaped, and herded into taking positions without explanation. Thanks to our media, which have become pure, unadulterated left-wing propaganda mills; our universities, which have become (in essence) madrassas promoting hatreds and Pavlovian response – thanks to our educational system overall, critical thought in our nation seems to have run its course. We’ve all become victims of an uncertain scheme that, by my calculations, can only end up in servitude for most of us. This is not how it was supposed to be.

It is significant that the one man who had both an inkling of what is going on and the skill to impart its essence, has now been forced from the stage. His departure is being heralded by professional left-wing and right-wing talkers alike. Now, tell me again that we’re not being played by both sides; that there is not effectively only one side: Soros’ side.

Watch closely the choices we will be presented with in our next election charade. The whole thing will hinge on what Republicans manage to come up with. As it looks now, they’ll serve up losers. And even if some standard-issue Republican should catch the public’s fancy, he’ll most likely turn out to be a ‘schlemiel’ like the rest.

Look too at the ones who draw the lion’s share of the Left’s condemnation (Palin, Trump). It is they who, if given even half a chance, are most likely to buck the trends that have been carefully mapped out, and promoted for years - that are only now coming to fruition.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Sick of Hearing Gibberish

There's something going on. Last week it was the moon being too close to the earth. This week it's Saturn. In Iran they're predicting the Madhi's return within months if not weeks. NASA is out watching for meteorites and space junk converging on earth. Batchelor is announcing the meltdown of Japan. Republicans are predicting financial collapse in the U.S. In New York they’re finding the remains of dead prostitutes along a remote beach road on Long Island. Can a major DOH announcement be far behind?

We've heard virtually all of this before and yet we’re all still here. Y2K never materialized, neither did swine or bird flu ravage the planet as predicted. This just goes to show, that every run of excess carries with it its own natural antidote; something working to keep things in check. Sometimes it's as brutal as starvation, war, and pestilence.

We're not quite there yet, but excess is invariably programmed to self-correct. Man can only stand by and watch excesses wax and wane. Often excess is met head on with excess and the two cancel each other out.

The tea parties, for example, arose out of excess by government. Liberalism arose from an excess of conservatism. Now we’re moving the other way. Any move has chaos as for a brother. Inertia is death. The stock market moves up and down, but it moves.

Where there is movement there is life. Where there is life there is death. Is there a balance?

Most assuredly so: We are always in balance. Sometimes it’s weighted to the left; sometimes to the right, but balanced nonetheless.

Shiva dancing in the bone yard: Someone always dances. Someone always provides the inert platform for the performance. Kaddafi is performing, and will do so until his legs are cut out from under him. Then, it will be Osama's turn to dance for a while.

Are we dancing? Individually (perhaps), yes. Some of us are. As a group, though, we've slunk out of the ballroom; wallflowers peeling away from the wall; sick of hearing gibberish.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Bleatings From The Leper Colony

Ever since George Washington, we have always had presidents with some overarching vision of where they want to take the nation. They might have gotten bogged down in the minutia of governance, or they might have made mistakes that would eventually require retreat. But the basic vision nevertheless remained and focused on bringing America to a better place.

We, the people, more or less accepted the fact that we were not policy wonks; that we were not necessarily privy to all the things that our presidents were privy to – nor would we want to be. We could more or less assume that our president was doing his best to move us forward while keeping our best interests in mind.

We always accepted a certain amount of change – even downturns in our personal and collective fortunes - as being an integral part of life. We even accepted small, incremental deviations from the principles on which our nation was founded. We accepted the slow creep of socialism to accommodate the needs of the poor, the sick and the otherwise unfortunate.

All this changed with the election of Barack Hussein Obama. As the continuing controversy about his birth certificate suggests, there is now a growing concern as to just who this man actually is. Are we better off now than we were just two years ago? The resounding answer is no.

The tea parties were the first to sound the alarm. They were summarily rebuffed and dismissed. As more and more people dared to raise questions, more and more people were labeled ‘extreme’ and, therefore, illegitimate. Everybody knows at least a part of the threat our nation faces. And yet, every citizen is treated as guilty – at airports, for example – while the obvious culprits are excused from our scrutiny in the interest of maintaining a veneer of tolerance – tolerance for whom? The only ones not tolerated are us! It almost seems like our world has been turned upside down where a declaration of obvious criminal intent somehow provides immediate immunity.

Meanwhile, the rest of us must carefully maintain our resumes, and closely monitor our words and actions lest we stand accused of racism, hate crimes and various sundry sins that might well result in our exclusion. A natural bent towards conservatism in some precincts would practically confine one to the modern equivalent of a leper colony.

Meanwhile, too, we watch our fortunes fading, even as the media celebrates great strides toward some unspecified unknown. Should we venture to connect the dots and project our path to some seemingly alien experience, we are slapped down by harsh voices laced with severe accusation and ridicule. Since when, in America, has anyone not been allowed to speak openly without having to fear intimidation; especially, when what we say, points out gross contradictions in policy objectives; and particularly as these might relate to the fundamental contract we have with our government?

It has not gone unnoticed that this contract is now in serious jeopardy; that our government has gone rogue; that our own leadership is now on the brink of labeling us as illegitimate. We, of course - now that the contract has been broken - can say the same.

We never thought it could come to this – not in America.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Shariah: What's The Problem?

I've had friends who came from broken homes who enlisted in the armed forces. They hoped the discipline there would help them to become men. I’ve had friends who became drug addicts – for the same reason. Drug addiction imposes a discipline on lives that are without.

Liberalism often seems attractive because liberals are good at imposing rules - rules that give structure to minds that lack the confidence to decide. The same applies to tea party followers.

The latter does not seem to be enough largely, because of the absence of consequences. Following the rules or breaking them is all the same. In fact, breaking them appears to assign some special status. The overall result is often confusing and arbitrary.

What about shariah? Is it really so bad as all of us are led to believe? I know, most of us recoil from it as we would from enlisting or succumbing to drug addiction. We hate the thought of early morning drills and dirty needles. We hate being labeled this or that. We have this image of ourselves as free men and women, unfettered by habit or convention.

Someone once said that “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.” It’s true in a way. Shariah gives you plenty of timelines and obligations. It kind of takes away all that pesky guilt that most of us are dragging around with us. It’s a legitimate response to doubt; a way of living within relatively safe confines where everything is written in stone. It’s also stifling. It kills curiosity and initiative. It minimizes risk. It makes it harder to fail and also impossible to succeed. In this, communism and shariah are one and the same.

Why do so many of us shy away from shariah while, at the same time, embracing socialism, the armed services, political parties – or even drug addiction? I understand that the pictures we’re shown of stonings, public hangings, slit throats, and severed limbs leave us gasping. This is all very frightening to us – flesh and blood consequences. Why, we don’t even remember where the meat we eat comes from anymore.

Shariah is not like that. The overwhelming majority of people who practice shariah are people just like us – like liberals, tea parties members, those who choose careers in the armed services or drug addiction. My grandmother used to say that the soup is never so hot when it’s eaten as when it was cooked.

So, what’s the problem? Why do we fear it? Why do we instinctively recoil from it? If others accept it, why can't we? Is our ego getting in the way of just letting go?

I’ll tell you outright why you should be concerned. All these movements that are sweeping the globe and are targeting America specifically have one thing in common. They seek to overthrow capitalism. Say, you have a skill or talent. Say, you can act, dance, sing, play football, lead a service-based organization; run a store; build a house... Perhaps you’re good with numbers or words. Maybe you’ve learned how to heal, teach, or offer advice - and that’s how you make your money. All that will mean nothing if those coordinating these left-wing and Islamic groups get their way. There will still be wealth and money. There will still be value. But value will be based on protection: You will pay for protection; or, people will pay you according to your ability to protect them. It’ll be a brutal world; a world without certainty that can change in a heart beat. It’ll be 'dog eat dog' – the way it always has been before America came along.

That in a nutshell is our challenge – a challenge made infinitely more daunting because roughly half our nation resides in the opposing camp while the other half remains ignorant of the threat. I can safely say that the next two years will determine the outcome. As it stands, either shariah or socialism has taken the lead. Both are pretty much the same. Pray that the nation wakes up in the meantime and freedom prevails.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Hubris

As for the Cote d’Ivoire situation where the dictator, Laurent Gbagbo, is refusing to leave his palace after December’s election went against him being a model for modern dictators - including Kaddafi, Sale at Sa’ana, Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez among others - one name is never mentioned: Barack Hussein “gee, it would be easier to be president of China” Obama.

Instead, what our man-child president does is consistently seen in the abstract and labeled ‘inattention’, ‘inexperience’, ‘tough luck’, etc. Occasionally, some mainstream pundit will go so far as to lay our failings at the feet of ‘government’.

Largely ignored is what Obama has actually been doing to bring about our present state of malaise. ‘Ruling against the will of the people’ is frequently mentioned by the Tea parties as a catch-all; true enough, but is hardly worth much more than the adhesive on a bumper sticker. How about our illustrious president deciding which laws to enforce or not? Now we’re getting into specifics. But who is it who would rap a stick across Barack’s knuckles and tell him to stop doing that? How about signing clearly unconstitutional legislation, breaking treaties, governing by fiat through unaccountable czars and agencies? How about lying, deliberately damaging our economy; engaging in crony capitalism; encouraging dissent; overriding legislative customs, rules and procedures; ignoring judicial rulings; laundering money; propagandizing? The list goes on and on…

The voters of Wisconsin speak and elect a conservative governor. The White House inserts itself into Wisconsin politics and brings the state to a chaotic halt. Ditto, Arizona. Now there is a concerted effort to recall duly elected representatives for casting ‘wrong’ votes. No doubt, the White House is 100%behind it. How long before the WH threatens lawmakers' wives and kids? How long before lawmakers are intimidated and called incendiary names as in the case of ‘dead man Walker’?

All these are signs of a government that is out of control. In Japan, a nuclear power station blows up. Death and devastation are not necessarily immediate. It’s cumulative over time. We too are fast running out of options. So much has happened already under this president. It’s made us all but immune to the particulars. Many have awoken, but now throw up their hands. What will it take for the rest to wake up? A stolen election? Some kind if national calamity? Or will it finally sink in only in 2013 when we find that Obama is president yet again?

‘Hubris’ comes immediately to mind. It’s a good word with a rich history, coined by the Greeks. Look it up; or look it up again even if you think you know what it means. It would be well for us to learn how to recognize it, because it’s about to engulf us.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Organized Water

Zuidplaspolder marks the lowest point (-7 m) in The Netherlands (Holland) which is famous for its dykes. In fact, much of the landmass of this country lies below sea level. Were there no dykes, even Amsterdam could not have been built.

Similarly, about 50% of New Orleans lies below sea level. Levees have been built to protect the city. As we have so painfully learned during Katrina: when the levies are breached, the city floods.

Much money is required to maintain dykes and levees. When this money is diverted to corruption and other uses and the levees are allowed to deteriorate, it puts protected areas at severe risk.

Hosni Mubarak represented a political dyke in the Middle East. He stood between the radical Islamization of the country and what we see today - a semi-modern society exhibiting western friendly values. There is some question as to just how successful Mubarak actually was. Just last week I happened to see a picture (it might have been in the WSJ) showing an Egyptian beach some 20 years ago with an insert showing that same beach today. The first showed a typical middle class family picnicking on a beach blanket dressed in western swimwear; the second showed that same beach haunted by the dark shadows of women in burkahs.

Water is 'organized' as to always pool in the lowest places. The Muslim Brotherhood, is said to be the most 'organized' faction in Egypt. Many predict that with Mubarak gone - the dam is broken, and - the Brotherhood will come to dominate the country, turning it into a harsh, restrictive, anti-western, anti-Israel theocracy.

We have seen this before in the Middle East: Iran.

The people, so enthusiastic and hopeful in anticipation of a loosening of shackles, will have little to say about how the worm ultimately turns. They are not (nuts and bolts) 'organized'. They will fall victim to the demands of 'organized' water that always seeks the lowest point in which to pool. Tyranny is always the lowest point.

It’s the same here in America. The Left is organized beyond belief while the Tea Parties are not. The Tea Parties are merely united by a vague sense of tradition and fear. They are being swept away as we speak by 'organized' political water. Like the Facebook warriors of Egypt, they do not stand a chance.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

America: Not For Profit

There have been calls for revolution right here in America. Most prominently such calls have recently been heard at the protests in Wisconsin‘s state capital. Neither did the oft stated comparison to Egypt’s revolution escape public notice.

As in a series of strokes, first symptoms are seldom recognized as dangerous. Our first rattling of the cage came with the election of Barack Hussein Obama. We’ve been in revolution mode ever since. It’s reached a point where a counter-revolution is now building: the Tea Parties.

When Americans speak of revolution as pertains to their own country, it is difficult to determine what exactly they are talking about. ‘Revolution’ has become a sort of shorthand for ‘change’ popularized in 2008 during Obama’s election bid. Back then, it essentially meant nothing. Change would happen no matter which candidate were to be chosen. Bush was no longer on the ballot after all.

Perhaps, revolution can be identified as ‘accelerated change'. No doubt, this is what we got with Obama. Few would have envisioned how much this administration would be able to accomplish in just two short years. In the process, it has managed to bludgeon any number of sacred cows. (We’ve already gone through the list dozens of times.) These are now screaming to high heaven.

What we are seeing now can perhaps more properly be termed ‘civil war’. Revolution always comes first. With Obama’s election in the history books, the revolution is effectively behind us. Conventional wisdom has it that those best organized tend to come out on top (in a revolution). The American Left was far better organized than the Right, evidenced by the Left winning hands down.

Conservatives may be late to the dance, but they are organizing. There are other factors, of course, that will determine the ultimate result. Of these, enthusiasm may be the most potent. It can gather itself into real momentum. Momentum can only be temporarily halted by ‘organized’ force.

And this is where we find ourselves today. With the media being on the lam, it’s hard to tell at the moment which side will ultimately prevail. Libya is far easier to predict. Kaddafi will use all he has to quell the uprising. Unlike other Middle Eastern tyrants, he must have been planning for this eventuality all along. It won’t be pretty.

Any outside help offered to his regime will be handsomely rewarded. No doubt Russia and others are considering it. We have already stated publicly that we will not make any move that could be construed as an attempt to profit. This makes us unique among nations; and is yet another indication of the direction in which our own revolution is headed.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

On The Verge of America's Third Revolution

Listening to Aaron Klein’s radio show today, I learned that Muslim student associations routinely recite the Muslim pledge of allegiance at their meetings on school grounds. This seems odd to me. While other religious organizations are often barred from holding meetings (on school grounds), the Muslim students seem to be getting away with it. It is not unusual for any organization to have a motto, pledge or mission statement. While most are relatively benign in content, the Muslim pledge sounds overtly seditious (to me). They are openly calling for the overthrow of the United States (and capitalism), pledging to give their very lives to their quest for global domination.

Why is Homeland Security not investigating these groups? Why is it that every other group (Tea Parties, veterans groups, the Boy Scouts, Catholics, etc.) is quick to raise suspicions within our Homeland Security apparatus while Muslim groups are given a free pass? (And I still don’t have an answer as to why Muslim women are not subject to mandatory airport pat-downs.) Can anyone still say ‘double standard‘? ‘Inexperience‘? ‘Incompetence on the part of our leadership‘? Or is it treason?

While every other religion is shunned, ridiculed and shamed into pulling in its horns under a policy of ‘separation of church and state’, only Islam faces no legal or societal roadblocks. In fact, as a nation we seem to roll over and play dead to any Islamic demand.

The answer is so obvious, it almost seems superfluous to articulate it. America has become a Muslim nation. It happened when we elected Barack Hussein Obama to be our supreme leader. The rest of the world knows this. If we could accept the fact that this has happened, we would begin understand a whole lot of things that have escaped our reason since the day our current president was sworn in without a Bible: from his refusal to show his birth certificate, to what is going on in the Middle East, to Wisconsin.

All the money we have poured into the Middle East for oil appears to have bought them our media, our major institutions, and even our government. Does anyone seriously think that they will ever let go of it? The second American revolution is already in the rearview mirror. It happened while we were sleeping. The sooner we wake up, the sooner can America’s third revolution begin.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

500 Million Pounds of Cheese a Year

Is it just me, or do Democrats invariably resort to disgraceful tactics? If so, should they even be allowed to govern. It does seem like Republicans have no antidote. Darrell Issa tries to make a start. From what I hear, he now faces a whole team of gumshoes trying to dig up dirt to discredit him. Additionally, his committee has now been subpoenaed relating to hearings held back in 2008 regarding Roger Clemens’ steroid use. Henry Waxman - not Issa - presided back then. The Dems must be terribly afraid of what Issa might find. They’ll try everything to block the investigations.

There’s dirt on all of us. It shouldn’t be hard to find dirt on Issa. If he happens to be a saint, they’ll just make something up. And the press will run with it. And even our guys will buy into it. Why? Because they’re dirty too - some of them. The rest are cowards (thank you, Joe). They thought the political gig was going to be a cake walk.

This is not a way to run a railroad. There’s real corruption here. This isn’t a way to run anything, much less a nation.

The Democrat party in this country is completely out of control. They’ll say and do anything. And they’ll do it in broad daylight. And the media spins it for them. And they come up smelling like roses every single time.

The folks are hip to it. And they’re disgusted by it; yet, at the same time they applaud like seals when Republicans stumble. Republicans are like the Jews - the pariah underdog; and I do mean ‘dog‘. Everybody will be applauding today - including the Jews - when the UN resolution against Israel passes without America’s objection. Everybody will know that it’s a farce, but - like with Bush in his heyday - we seem to get a kick out of beating piñatas to death and spilling their guts.

Sure, there will be some who will voice concern. But their concerns won’t be heard on the national media which is stuck in its own template. When a CBS reporter was beaten and raped in Cairo while the crowd shouted, “JEW!”, everybody tried to pretend it never happened, because it didn’t fit the template of the ’happy revolution’. Yesterday, Obama is said to have called her at the hospital where she’s been recovering. It must have pained him to have to do this - his people behaving so shamefully. Why couldn’t it have been Israelis or Tea Party members? Or a gang of right-wing talk show hosts?

Hypocrisy again; double standard again; spinning again. So tired of pointing it out (again)! Union thugs in Madison, and Hamas in Gaza using children as human shields - both lying through their teeth. Lawmakers running for the hills in cheesy Wisconsin; taxpayers bleeding red ink - it’s all grist for the ever-grinding mill just as long ‘Democrats' are turning the screws.

My humble message for Republicans: Fight them tooth and nail or roll over now! But spare us the drama.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Playing Dead

The sainted revolution over, it’s difficult to understand why protesters are still in Tahrir Square (which is really a circle). Reminds of when Obamacare was passed and the next day people started showing up at clinics and hospitals, demanding medical services.

Today, Egyptians are protesting low wages and high food prices. Anyone to venture a guess when this will change?

Conditions are liable to get worse for Egyptians - not better. For one thing, the army is now in charge. They control streets, not markets. Nefarious elements will begin to disrupt things even more in hopes of positioning themselves just behind the tip of the spear.

After WWII , after Germany had been decisively defeated, there was the U.S. to step in to help. I’m not saying Europe couldn’t have pulled itself out of the muck. I’m just saying, it would have taken them a lot longer without the Marshall Plan and good old American know-how.

Nobody to turn to now if you happen to crash your economy, have a revolution, or lose a war. America has given up on that gig. We’ve become green, taking nothing from the earth and subsisting entirely like Kobo Abe’s fictional, self-contained bug (eupcaccia) which he describes in the opening lines of his novel, “The Ark Sakura”, as subsisting entirely by eating its own feces.

And there is Obama, trying to take credit for what happened. In six months, Egyptians may well take him up on that. Meanwhile, unrest is said to be spreading throughout the Middle East. In his message to the Egyptian people, Obama voiced once again his commitment to stand by them, perhaps not yet realizing that, to the average Egyptian, any interference by America is like the kiss of death. Maybe his message was really directed at us? Oh, I don’t mean the Tea Parties. He can do without them - much too civilized; much too informed; stable. No, he means all the rabble that supports him. He’s been spoiling for a good fight. Republicans, it seems, aren’t really up to it. Much too eager to roll over and play dead.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Morphic Resonance

Let’s step back for a moment. I’ve written about it before: ‘morphic resonance', a term coined by Rupert Sheldrake to explain some instances of paranormal experience. Sheldrake notes that there are ‘morphic (memory) fields’ that surround organisms; that these can and do bleed what can be termed knowledge stemming from the ‘memory’ of collective experience. He came upon it when he noted that a particular species of birds in one part of England had learned to pry the tops off of milk bottles. Shortly thereafter, a group of the same species in another part of England were doing the same.

There may be other explanations for such phenomenon which have since the publication of Sheldrake’s first book on the subject (1981) been developed and expanded, touching other areas; and argued about - both by Sheldrake and his numerous critics - and may not really represent anything more than a shorthand - ‘a way of talking’, if you wish - about something for which there are as of yet no words. Nevertheless, it’s a fascinating subject and does make sense to some degree.

Linguists too may have something to say in parallel when claiming that the human brain is hard-wired for language - not for any specific language (otherwise there would only be one language) but for the grammatical structure that supports it.

As we look around, the world seems in great upheaval. All of us sense that something is afoot. The optimists among us welcome it, trying hard to fall in stride; while the pessimists fear and resist it. The fatalists are content to absorb whatever buffeting may ensue.

This (what’s coming) seems bigger than just the traditional conflicts that have arisen here and there in the past. The modern explanation for it is that the world has grown smaller (metaphorically speaking) and that what happens in heretofore inaccessible parts is now instantly known to all (via the internet). But this approaching storm seems bigger even than a quarrel between nations. It is like the shadow of the spaceship ‘Armageddon' that all but eclipses reason and civility. And we scurry hither and thither, struggling to explain it. There are conflicts on the brink of breaking out all over the place.

Some might point to the inexplicable, seemingly voluntary withdrawal of the United States from the world stage. Surely, they claim, this would cast ripples across the globe as nations scramble to re-tune their alliances. Others point to the Mayan calendar. But this still falls short of explaining the ubiquitous nature of the thing. It is shallow thinking to finger some individual part as a cause when this part, and every other part, are parts of a whole.

Enter ‘morphic resonance’. The divide appears to be between the privileged - the self-proclaimed (often illegitimate) - leaders and the masses that feel themselves somehow disconnected from their leadership and oppressed. We see it in the Middle East; we see it in Asia; we see it in America itself with the rise of the Tea Parties. There appears to be a universal dissatisfaction with leadership in general.

Leadership, in turn, desperately seeks to preserve the status quo. It cajoles; it threatens; it paints any departure from the norm as ominous. Nevertheless, most of those now in power, know that their days are numbered. Chinese leadership knows. They are preparing, as we speak, to hold back the tide. We watch them prepare and think that they are planning to attack us. Clearly, we both know that neither we nor they are a threat to each other. So, we are puzzled. China knows that the threat comes from within. It is already palpable.

While we are still in the process of finishing off what remains of our individual soma rations, our president concerns himself primarily with staying in power. To this end, he has falsely co-opted the idea of ‘change’, never considering that he himself is its target. The next two (or six) years will bring change alright, but it will not be due to Obama.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

More Christians Than Lions

There’s another narrative here that the media couldn’t quite bring off; but, God knows, they tried. That was to say, because of Obama’s visit to the hospital, Giffords opened her eyes. It would have made for terrific copy world-wide. It would have gone along seamlessly with an earlier thread: Obama as messianic figure.

All the other stuff worked. They really can’t complain. Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Tea Party - all in the dog house. The need for yet more money to treat people with psychological problems and to house psychopaths; maybe even a brand new Federal department complete with death panel czar to oversee it all. More welfare for the afflicted; higher taxes, of course. More money for education; more gun control… on and on it goes.

Finally, it’s all Republicans’ fault. Listening to Aaron Klein broadcasting from Israel last Sunday, he related how Israelis were convinced that Jared Loughner was a right-wing tea party member - and these were people working in news rooms!

In India, it’s the same story.

There are more Christians than lions; but, hell, you’d never know it.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

The Stoning Of Sarah

The Left certainly was more than ready for this one. It’s almost as if their talking points had been already scripted and sitting right there in the ‘out’ tray for months, just waiting for the inevitable moment to materialize. The media was already suited up, (ink)jets scrambled. It was the moment they had been waiting for: the opportunity to strike a blow against such perennials as gun rights, the tea parties, and talk radio. Well done, Left!

No time was lost on reflection. Facts that didn’t quite match evaporated before our very eyes. Websites scrubbed. Beck dropped. The rugs had been lifted to accommodate whatever was inconvenient to dispose of properly.

Some months ago a website (I forget which) posted a video of the stoning of a young girl somewhere in Pakistan. Nothing was left to the imagination. At the time, I wondered not just about the vicious frenzy of those throwing the stones, but also of the passive nature of those watching, and filming. The filming, especially, bothered me. “How sick!” I thought.

But then I realized that those filming couldn’t possibly be sitting around watching this again and again over popcorn and beer. There must be something more to it.

Maybe they were crying out for help. Maybe it was the only way they could think of to expose the madness. It was for us to see - to be outraged, as they were - to be moved to intercede; to take charge; to rescue them from their bloody Islamic hell. At considerable risk to themselves, they succeeded in smuggling the video out to what they believed to be the beneficent West, only to be shelved there and ignored.

We too have a bloody woman on our hands. Only, for us, it doesn’t seem to be enough. We want more. We want Sarah Palin’s head mounted on a stake to be paraded through our streets. We want Limbaugh and Beck. We want the population disarmed and helpless, at the mercy of thugs and tax collectors. We want the Tea Parties castrated and silent. We want our Constitution shredded. It is now clear that this is the official narrative of our intent.

We’ve just come from celebrating an election (in which the wrong party made huge gains). Some of us had been full of hope that things will improve with the infusion of fresh blood. That much we got. We were eagerly awaiting the first signs of change, of rebuilding that which had slipped away during the past two years. Now all of it has been overshadowed, sidetracked, postponed - the momentum lost. Who wins? Not democracy; not freedom. We’ve exploited our opportunity to take a step backwards. We’ve been derailed, stifled, disheartened. We’ve once again come face to face with just how fragile our system has become. We’ve become irritable and irritating in the same breath.

Those cell phone Pakis must be crying. America will not help. America can’t even help itself.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Stop The Presses: Wrong Guy!

I really thought today was the day when it begins. The left-wing bloggers were all in position, ready to go. Some even jumped the gun. They were not listeners to the John Batchelor Show. If they had been, they would have known that the first three reports are always wrong.

No, the shooter was not the one they expected. He did not follow the approved script. His car radio was not tuned to Limbaugh, his trunk was not filled with Beck paraphernalia. He did not carry a copy of the Constitution in his pocket. He was not a card-carrying member of any Tea Party. Instead he was a nut job, pure and simple.

He did us a favor by posting unintelligible material on the internet that points to a severely diseased mind. He posted a video of himself burning the American flag (a hat tip to Bill Ayers, perhaps). There were some books on his reading list, but most of them solidly left-inspired.

As more and more facts leaked out, the Left began backing off. This was not their guy. They would have to wait for another, more suitable to their purpose.

I hadn’t really heard the news until late. One tends not to listen to radio much, especially on weekends when it’s snowing. I had just finished posting King Crimson. The devil made me do it. Then, I went back and listened to the words…

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Empty White House?

JB, your way of looking at this is not dissimilar to Obama’s. You’re both looking at the same thing, but from different sides. Things or people exist only in relation to something or someone else; and then, only if there is a common element in both. There is no common element between you and POTUS. You watch Obama from afar and your expectation of what he should be doing does not match up with what you see. Therefore you say, “The White House is Empty.” If the moon should fail to rise on a night it is expected to, what would you say? “The sky is empty”? No, of course not. But most would recognize that something of profound significance had occurred.

Similarly, POTUS has taken a measure of what he understands his own sacred mission to be and decided that both the people and the Constitution (which he has sworn to uphold, by the way) are an impediment to him. Therefore, he has seen fit to sever these from his consideration and is now operating rogue. He has said in effect that the people and the Constitution do not exist as far as he is concerned.

That’s how we have come to the point where much of the legislation that has been passed already (during the past two years) is patently unconstitutional. But who would challenge it? Congress - the people’s representatives? Hardly. Congress, as an institution, has debased itself by flagrantly shirking its duty to represent the people; by governing against their will; by making disparaging remarks about constituents and their Constitution; by exempting itself (and ‘friends‘) from it’s own laws. Can you say ‘corruption’?

Much hope is being heaped on the incoming Republicans - particularly Tea Party- supported Republicans - in their ability to sweep in and clean up the mess. Too much hope, if you ask me. They will be faced with a stacked deck; tilting machines; computer keyboards with the ‘W’s’ removed; etc. Much of the damage has already been done (and is now irreversible), especially to the honor, credibility, and legitimacy of the concept of representative government overall.

Obama exists alright, in that everything he does affects us both directly and indirectly. He moves us willy-nilly, like sticks of furniture, around the room. We cannot respond - or, our response goes unheard and unheeded - while the wheels of what has already been set into motion grind on. It is we who do not exist. It is we who inhabit empty rooms. Obama is still president. He can do as he wants.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

I Want Kelly Evans Back

“POTUS cannot solve the possibility of a challenge from the Left of the Democrats.”

First off, let me say, I want Kelly Evans back. As to the Batchelor quote above, how does that square with the opinion of many pundits (including the WSJ) that the Left is finished in this country? This has to be thought through. If the Left is finished, so is the Right. The problems this country faces - both foreign and domestic - are no longer solvable. Game point, POTUS.

And this has been the whole point of the Obama presidency thus far: to erase any distinction between Democrat and Republican, Left and Right, economic success or failure; winning and losing re foreign policy; etc.

That has been the ‘game’ all along - a classic Marxist ploy, meant to prepare the field for takeover. By the time it’s finished, there will no longer be any way to judge the best from the worst. There will be just one choice. It will masquerade as harmony.

The Kucinich play will fade to sideshow (if it hasn’t already), as will the Tea Parties, the Clintons and all the rest. The action will be in the main tent; and the ring master will be Barack Hussein Mubarak (or any other dictator you wish to name).

All the partisan hand wringing; all the endless talk about this and that was over once Barack Hussein Obama got elected. He has forged (and is still forging) a new way forward - new for America, that is. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner we can get down to the business of restoring the country. Otherwise, don’t come whining to me if, when 2012 comes ‘round, Obama gets ‘re-elected’ (again and again…)

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Hostage Bankers

I like the Comedy Central clip best. It’s more honest - and funny (if it weren’t so…) Look, the U.S. economy has been largely illusory ever since we came off the gold standard. There’s enough ‘money’ (credit) out there (on the sidelines) right now to make it work.

The problem is political rather than economic. People don’t trust this president. Any negotiation that Obama is involved with will be summarily rejected by the people. Therefore, it is distressing to see all these bankers come groveling up to the White House.

It’s clear that all these castrated men are trying hard to be diplomatic. They’re watching their words carefully. They understand that their businesses are essentially at the mercy of a three-year old. Banking in America should have its Tea Party contingent. The tea parties are the only ones who have managed to break the chains of the Obama mystique. They are free to tell the truth They are no longer hostages as bankers are. Their punishment is to remain on the fringes of temporary and fragile power structure. For this, they must suffer accusations of being ‘extreme’.

I can well remember a time, not too long ago, when the whole Obama cult would have been labeled extreme.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

We Are All Socialists Now

We can now put another ornament on Obama’s socialist (mop) Christmas tree: net neutrality. Nobody can yet exactly say what it means. The full text of the new rules haven’t been released yet. But, putting yet another chunk of the free market under government control should tell you all you need to know.

As with other legislation that has passed this year, the new rules basically amount to a framework that allows government to regulate as issues emerge. “At the digression of…” appears to be a ubiquitous phrase in any such legislation. It is also important to note that no such legislation - from ‘health care’ to FINREG to START - has been assembled willy-nilly and without purpose. All of it has been carefully crafted and been filed away from public view for a long time to be taken out at a time most favorable to passage. Law makers have had virtually no way to assess the merits of any such legislation and were required to vote in hurried fashion, strictly along party lines.

Net neutrality, of course, bypassed Congress altogether. There was no opportunity to probe the past associations and affiliations of those who crafted and promoted it. Suffice it to say, that those of us who suspected Obama’s socialist bias all along were right. Vote socialist, and you get socialist - and worse.

At this pace, we can expect a seemingly legitimate bill to slip through a rubberstamp Congress within the next two years that gives Obama the presidency with unlimited power for life. It’ll all be done under the rubric of crisis - Chavez style.

Crisis is the mother’s milk of authoritarian regimes and as such we cannot expect much to improve our situation. Crisis is one of the easiest circumstances to manufacture. Socialism thrives on it. It has never played to finding solutions anywhere its been tried. It just dissolves the parameters by which to judge success or failure.

Republicans and tea party members will have their work cut out for them. Rolling back or de-funding existing open-ended legislation is, they will find, is much like trying to nail Jello to a wall. Their best bet will be to proceed with hearings, focusing on constitutional grounds. This will, however, leave them open to the charge of practicing McCarthyism. The public at large will not be encouraged to support such dramatic high-profile displays. It will judge any effort on the part of Republicans as grandstanding, racism, and rank partisanship. They can be expected to fold like cheap cameras and just go along.

It’s been coming for a long time. It’s all been planned so meticulously, down to the last detail. The shame of it is that we too had a chance to stem this socialist tide. Bush too had control of Congress for a time, but squandered the opportunity to gird us against the threat. The Right has done nothing but capitulate. We now face a situation not dissimilar to our fight against Islamic terrorism in which a whole roster of clarifying terminology has been swept off the table. Mention ‘socialism’ and the full weight of political correctness comes crashing down from the sky to stifle any further hope for honest debate.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Watching It Burn

When a car quits running it’s most likely either out of gas or low on oil. If it’s low on oil, adding gas won’t help; similarly, if it’s out of gas, adding oil will do little to get it going again.

A WSJ editorial today reads in part: “Oregon raised its income tax on the richest 2% of its residents last year to fix its budget hole, but now the state treasury admits it collected nearly one-third less than the bean counters projected. The sun also rose in the east, and the Cubs didn’t win the World Series.” and, I might add, Oregon’s economy didn’t improve. It takes both oil and gas for a car to run properly.

Taxes have hit the wall in many states. Raising them, has (at best) had no effect on either topping-off state coffers or on improving the economy. We’ve already drained the oil down to dangerous levels; adding gas (stimulus) won’t help.

Gas represents the government’s power to tax. Oil represents the people’s willingness to keep on working and paying taxes. When either one exceeds or falls short of its optimum level, the economy falters.

Anyone who simply advocates - as Democrats do - that increased taxes will kick-start our economy is ignoring the oil-side of the equation. Similarly, anyone who advocates cuts in spending to the exclusion of other factors is on the wrong track. The economy will not improve unless and until the equation balances.

Tea Parties tend to harp on government spending while our government is harping on ‘tax breaks for the rich‘. Neither one will ultimately succeed in bringing the economy back. It doesn’t take a mechanic to diagnose the problem in Oregon. Those who simply say “it’s the economy, stupid” are missing the point. They’re blaming both gas and oil under the umbrella of the economy not working. It takes a more nuanced approach. Clearly there’s more than enough gas. What’s missing is the oil.

Solution: Ease off on the gas and add oil. [Note to Obama: If the plan, however, is to kill the economy outright, simply to watch it burn, there are other (quicker) options. We could always run it into a bridge abutment. All options remain on the table.]

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Houston, we’ve got a problem...

Houston, we’ve got a problem! We’ve got the Democrats referring to Republicans as ‘terrorists'. And, far from repudiating such sentiments, the president goes out to echo same by painting Republicans as ‘hostage takers‘.
Sounds like a war (of words). What’s missing here is temperance. Compromise has been swept off the table.

Imagine, Republicans as terrorists! That’s strong medicine to digest. Especially since there are people out there who are actually trying to kill us; and who, we all know, it is now improper to refer to as ‘terrorists‘.

There are only a handful of extremists, we are told. Yet, the most powerful army on earth cannot defeat them. No, they must be accorded rights as if they were (American) Republicans. In fact, they must be elevated above all Americans. They must not be profiled or searched at airports - same as our star-powered political class. While Americans are made to suffer every naked indignity we can think of, are expected to give up a significant portion of their hard-earned income to support enemy outreach (as endorsed by our president), they must also be persuaded to give up their freedoms; their holy places, their prayers and celebrations as not to offend Islam (and, to a lesser extent, atheists).

But every barely functioning state needs an enemy to blame for whatever might go wrong. It’s therefore lucky we have Republicans. These will happily offer their backsides on which to paint concentric circles. Like obedient dogs they will gladly run and fetch; or heel. We can tell them one thing and do another. They will believe lies, never bothering to scratch the surface beneath which we hide our pernicious designs. They’re ever ready to line up for the showers if it guarantees a thorough cleansing - only, we will decide what the definition of ’clean’ is.

Republicans. Poor, hapless saps. We’ve got them by the short hairs; running around like maniacs now, proclaiming victory; convinced that the tea parties have saved them and turned the diabolic Obama away from his original sin. He has heard the cry of the electorate: no more taxes! And now they swoon at the sight of him. “We have won!” they shout from the rooftops. Now we can return home and relax. All will be right with the world.

What will they say when the blessed cuts don’t materialize; when January 1st their paychecks shrink? They’ll blame Congress, of course; they’ll blame the system. Still they’ll take comfort in the fact (as they see it) that Obama is with them now. He too wanted tax cuts. The prodigal son has returned.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/